40 Days of Extraordinary Prayer

Beginning Sunday New Life Church will begin 40 days of extraordinary prayer. My prayer is that God will be exalted by hearing the prayers of His people whose only right to an audience with Him comes because of His magnificent Son. I trust God will show his glorious power as we ask Him to do what only He can do. I am asking God to make each person's experience of Him greater, sweeter and more satisfying because they make conversing with the creator of the universea renewed priority.

Aaron Orendorff has provided a prayer guide that you can use during this time to help in your personal prayer times. It is available on Sunday or you can download it here.

We will be praying together several times:

• September 6th, 7:00 p.m. at the Robinwood Campus
  
• September 13th, 7:00 p.m. at the Riverfalls Campus
• September 20th, 7:00 p.m. at the Robinwood Campus
• October 4th, 7:00 p.m. at the Riverfalls Campus

One of the ways we will celebrate the first birthday of our Robinwood location will be with a 24-hour prayer circle. You can sign up for an hour or half-hour time when you are at church on Sunday.

The entire 40 days of prayer will conclude with a prayer summit on Friday the 13th, October 13th at Robinwood. You can email Aaron if you have questions. Please take this opportunity to draw closer to your God.

New Library Additions!

Children's Library:
        5 new Mandie books
        Sisters in Time
            Emily - makes a difference (18930 a time  of progress and problems
            Lydia the Patriot (1770) The Boston massacre
            Sarah's New World (1620) the mayflower adventure
            Meg -follows a dream (1844) the fight for freedom
            Anna's-Fight for hope (1931) the great depression

        Videos:
            Veggie Tales
                Easter Carol
                Ultimate silly song countdown
                Jonah: sing along songs
            3,2,1, Penguins
            Cheating scales of bullamanka
            Runaway pride at lightstation kilowatt
            Amazing carnival of complaining
           LarryBoy
            The Yodel Napper
            Leggo my ego

Main Library:
    Teen section (on the window shelf)
        Heroes of the Faith
            C.S. Lewis (creator of Narnia)
            Corrie Ten Boom (faith amidst fear)
            Free Indeed (African-American Christians and the struggle for equality
            Into all the World (four stories of pioneer missionaries)
            Jim Elliot (missionary martyr)
            Some gave all (four stories of missionary martyrs)
            Well with My Soul (four dramatic stories of great hymn writers)
        DC Talk
             Under God

    MAIN LIBRARY-Adults
        Clay Aiken (Learning to Sing)-782.4    
        Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp -248.8
        How to give away your Faith (revised edition) by Billy Graham -248.5
        The FIVE Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman, Ph. D - 649
        Every young woman's battle by Shannon Ethridge - 241.66
        Every young man's battle by Stephen Arterburn - 241.66

Food For Thought!

Yes, risk-taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing-taking.
-Tim McMahon

If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure.
-J. Danforth Quayle

Clackamas River Baptism!

Last Sunday New Life Church held our annual river baptism at the Clackamas River in the Haugens' back yard. Eight people -- Scott Ouchida, Kelly Wilkensen, Tyler Hanson, Jon Binswanger, Eric Binswanger, Thomas Hollingworth, Aubrey Gatewood, and Levi Thomas -- were baptized. Their testimonies of the work God has done in their lives were precious. We rejoice with them. Please continue to uphold them in prayer.

Stop the Flooding! (Phase 2)

Many of you saw the previous post which told the story of some of the work being done to prevent the church building at New Life Robinwood from flooding again this winter. Well, this weekend was phase 2 of that project. Again, several strong backs gathered to put in a full day of work. Some were teenagers, some middle aged, and even a couple of seniors joined into the action.

The project for phase 2 was to change the slope of the landscape so that water flows away from the auditorium rather than towards it. With all of that dirt the men built up an embankment and put in a beautiful retaining wall to hold it all together. Building the wall not only required strength (lifting 60 pound blocks) but brains (making sure it all fit together properly).

Another crew spent the day chipping and chopping up a couple of trees that had been cut down because they were a hazard to cars parked in the lot behind the church.

A big thanks goes out to Tim Smith who has been coordinating this whole project, and his wife Lori who provided lunch for the whole crew! Thanks again to all who helped!

Congratulations!

Bob and Agnes Spidal celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this afternoon at 2:00. They showed a slideshow of their life together, introduced their wedding party and shared a little wisdom about how to stay married for 50 years.

Congratulations Bob and Agnes! Thank you for your example.

Sunday afternoons

If I could choose how I spend every Sunday afternoon, it would be like this. I'm sure other people are more ambitious.

Pictures are back -- Directories in process

The pictures of the dogs in our church and their people have come back from Olan Mills. We did have a number of pictures returned that were missing animals. We will consult the authorities to see if we can still publish those in the church directory. The target to complete the directories is the end of September.

College / Young Adult End-of-Summer Bowling and Pizza

The New Life Church College & Young Adult group went bowling as a way of celebrating the end of summer. It was the last time several of them would be together before heading off to college.

Everyone enjoyed the time together. While Mackenzie posted an all-time best and Mandi was on fire, the news story of the evening was a dramatic competition between Kati and Pastor Scott in the final game for the high score of the night. It came down to the final frame. And. . . you'll have to ask someone who was there how it ended up.

The night concluded in a sweet time of prayer for those leaving to follow God's leading in their lives.

Jonah Comes to Wacky Wednesday

This Wednesday is Drama Day at Wacky Wednesday. We have been having a ton of wacky fun every Wednesday in the month of August from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at New Life Robinwood.

If you are a kid in K-6th grade, you won't want to miss this week. From 2:00- 3:30 we will learn about Jonah, make props, and practice a fun play. Then, at 3:30, parents are invited to an exciting presentation of the play, "Jonah and God." See ya' then.

Oh, and by the way, if you know friends who like drama, give them a call and invite them to be a part as well. They will love it!

Congratulations Graduates

Last night the Ignite high school ministry of New Life Church celebrated the graduation of four young people at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Clackamas.

Chris Currey will be leaving this week for Texas A&M to study petroleum engineering.

Mandi Elliott will be finishing an associates at Clackamas Community College this year then finishing at Marylhurst.

Kati Tefft is leaving next week for George Fox University.

Mackenzie Pricer will be heading to Canada to live with some friends and look into a college there.


Congratulations and may the Lord go with you. Remember the little people in your life! And, above all else, get wisdom!

Briggs -- August Missionary of the Month

Bill and Michelle Briggs and family from Loja, Ecuador send greetings. Here is an excerpt from a recent letter. New Life Church plans on putting together a short term team to visit and help the Briggs this winter…perhaps you might want to go??? Read about what they’ve been up to.

We have begun training locals in basic health issues as well as provide some medical care as needed. Each visit will involve a time of medical attention/training and then a short Bible study. We are specifically targeting areas that do not have access to any medical attention, and tend to be isolated from other sources of help and instruction. All this is in Spanish so please continue to pray for ongoing improvement in our language ability. Also pray for protection as we travel out to remote areas, sometimes returning after dark.

There are very poor, elderly people around Gonzanama that really don’t receive much care. We hope to identify several who we can visit regularly and help, including medical care as necessary. Pray for wisdom as we determine who to see and how to help and that God’s love would open their hearts to Him.

Because there is such a strong desire to learn English in hopes of securing a job in another country, we have started a weekly class for 15 adults. Please pray that our witness and growing friendships will bring about good opportunities for sharing the truth of Gods’ word.

Part of what we are trying to do in Gonzanama is encourage and strengthen the known Christians. Every Saturday at four pm there is a gathering of 6-8 people in our house for church. Pray for discernment and wisdom as we are often needing to deal with gossip, unforgiveness, and significant relational tensions among many here in Gonzanama.

Personally, we struggle with balancing the kids’ education with daily living, learning Spanish and trying to get out and minister. We are encouraged that a short term missionary, currently in Loja, will be coming out in August to live in Gonzanama and help out.

Please pray that this extra help will work out as we feel it is very necessary.

Please pray for Michelle’s shoulder and ongoing migraine troubles as well as general physical and spiritual protection.

Give Blood at New Life Church

The Red Cross needs all blood types. They will be at New Life Robinwood, August 18-19th and September 8-9th. Here is the message from their email:

This is a strong appeal message! We sincerely need your help!

For the last several weeks, your local Red Cross has struggled to collect enough blood and platelets to meet the needs of local hospitals and patients. Since July 1, we have collected over 2,200 units less than planned.

Unless blood and platelet donations increase immediately we will be unable to provide local hospitals with live-saving blood!

If you are eligible, please call 1-800-GIVE LIFE now to schedule an appointment or visit our website at www.nwblood.redcross.org. While we do our best to accommodate walk-ins, we strongly encourage you to call or visit our website to schedule your donation.

We're back from our vacation in Wibaux

Even the people in Wibaux, they agree with me about my vacation destination: Wibaux, Dead End.

Here is a picture of our bathtub. Note the color of the water -- BEFORE the bath. It is bad enough not to be able to take a shower, but to try to get clean in this water. . . well, it is the kind of thing that makes a vacation memorable.

We branded 176 calves last Monday.

You can imagine what branding does to the calves. This is what branding did to me.

I've spoken about the weather in Wibaux before. This time I brought proof.

Even though our vacation does usually have several downsides, there are some good things, too. We were able to see Nick, Terri, and Sadie Stevenson in Medora, ND. They moved from our church to Dickinson, ND last summer and have a spot in the hearts of several in our church.

The country has a few beautiful features that the city can't touch. Here are a few:

Stop the Flooding!

This past Saturday, some hard working volunteers showed up to waterproof the Children's Wing at New Life Robinwood. Some of you may remember that our children's wing flooded this past winter. The guys dug a big trench, put a water proofing seal on and covered up the hole. Thanks guys for all of your hard work. And look, they even did it with a smile!

Helping Hands!

Aaron (see picture below) and Anderson Doyle were a part of the old Calvary Baptist Church that built the church building that currently houses New Life Robinwood. They came to New Life soon after our launch last fall, and have been faithful worshippers with servant hearts. Recently, Anderson has been in poor health and the Doyles have had a significant need for work to be done on their home. Some of the men of New Life became aware of this need and sprung into action.
Saturday, 6 men descended on Aaron & Andy Doyle's house in Milwaukie to help with the much needed work. There was some painting but most of it was building a retaining wall in the back yard. Doesn't sound like much but there was a lot of hard digging and a lot of sweating! There was good fellowship all around and a feeling of satisfaction of a job well done. Aaron and Andy wish to thank all of the men pictured below for their hard work and care.

Neighborhood Party Pictures

New Life Picnic this Sunday

This Sunday is the New Life Church Worship Service and Picnic at Beautiful Willamette Park in West Linn. We will gather for worship at 10 AM and have a picnic afterwards. Chicken and drinks will be provided. Just bring a salad or dessert to share. You can find directions to the park below. Seniors, feel free to pull up and park right behind the stage. See you Sunday!

Directions: Take the 10th Street exit off of I-205. Head east on 10th street toward Willamette Falls Drive. Take a right onto Willamette Falls drive. Then, take a left onto 12th street. Follow 12th street all the way down into the park.

Wacky Wednesdays Start this Week!

This Wednesday is the first of our "Wacky Wednesdays" in the month of August. Each Wednesday from 2:00 to 4:00 PM kids in K-6 grades are invited to come to New Life Robinwood for a wacky good time. This week we will be playing Water Games!So, bring a water bottle, clothes you can get wet in, and a towel to dry off with. And... Don't forget, bringing a friend with you makes the Wednesday twice as Wacky!